EP1031471 B1 discloses a device for generating a position image of an object or person reflecting or scattering radiation, which device comprises a radiation source for emitting radiation pulses that have such small beam angles that only a small surface area of the object or person is impinged upon by each radiation pulse, at a predefined solid angle, a radiation receiver having a single light-sensitive element and being arranged in a predefined spatial relationship with the radiation source for receiving the parts of the radiation pulses reflected or scattered by the object or person, a control and evaluation device, which controls the radiation source in such a way that the transfer times of the individual radiation pulses can be determined from their emission to their reception and which calculates the position image as a function of the positions of the radiation source and the radiation receiver, the solid angles, at which the respective radiation pulses are sent, and the transfer times. The device is complex and costly.